Youth These Days
by K.H. Wright
Summary: High school is hard, especially for troubled youths. AU.


**A/N: Okay, welcome to our Kingdom Hearts round robin! This fic is authored by me (K.H. Wright,) Burgh My Boy, and Lord of the Plushies. It is a high school AU and may contain mild to moderate language along with shonen-ai pairings. We are very excited for this project and hope that you will all enjoy it as well. Please leave a review as we crave feedback.**

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Demyx tapped a rhythm with his pencil, looking around the room. The people here were scary, not at all like his last school. They were rough looking, and their smiles did not seem happy, but mischievous and rough. He definitely got the feeling he didn't belong here. The Twilight School for Troubled Youths was a high school in Twilight Town that did just as its name implied: took in troubled youths and gave them a school to get an education in without bugging the "good kids." Demyx put his head on his desk and tried not to whimper.

"But I _am _a good kid," he said dejectedly. It was true. Although he never made the best grades and was known as being a slacker, he was usually polite and friendly, hanging out with the right crowd and didn't drink or smoke. And although he wasn't exactly a saint, he had never seen such a blatant disregard for the rules before. For instance the group of guys in the back of the room playing Slap on one of their buddy's stomach. Every time someone would win, a short cry would be heard, followed by the sound of group laughter. Now, he had been known to do stupid things like that, but not while the teacher was _teaching._ And Xaldin (he had learned no one in the school called their teachers by their last names,) completely ignored the whole thing, continuing to read the class syllabus with his back to the room. In front of Demyx, a kid doing chew spat into a water bottle he had hidden in his jacket pocket. Demyx shuddered; he didn't belong here.

The bell rang and the class rushed out of the room. Demyx gathered his things and regarded the crumpled schedule in his hand. He looked down from his first period (math) to his next and found that he had science. Joy. Next he pulled out his school map and looked to find his science class. Without a sigh, he left the math room and entered the crowded hall. Walking across the school he thought back to the night when all this started. It had been nice out, warm after a summer rain, without being muggy, and he had decided to take a walk. He should've stayed home. His mother had always told him that nothing good went on after dark in the city, and she had been right. Coming up to a convenience store, he had seen a group of hooligans spray-painting obscene pictures and words on the broad side of the store. As they caught sight of him coming up, they took off, leaving their paint on the ground. Demyx, being a good kid, went to pick up the paint before going inside to tell the store owner, but as he leaned over to grab it, the owner came outside, spotting him, and promptly called the police. Had Demyx any thought, he would have run, but his innocent mind told him that there was no way he'd get in trouble if he told the truth. That thought made him laugh now. The rest, as they say, was history.

Demyx entered the class room and looked up to the whiteboard where a seating assignment had been posted. This gave him hope, as usually in a class, people sat by other people they knew, leaving him, the new kid, all by himself somewhere. He went up to the front of the class and found his seat, which was in the back of the room at a two-person grey table. Sitting down, he waited patiently as the rest of the class arrived and took their seats. He was joined by a short, slate-haired boy who took his seat quickly and pulled out a book. The invisible sign that hung over him said "Do Not Disturb," but Demyx wasn't good at picking up these things.

"Hey!" he said, making the other boy jump as the sound broke his concentration. The boy glared at him.

"Hey," he said, his voice not at all friendly.

"My name is Demyx, I'm new here."

"Charmed," came the other boy's short reply. He went back to reading.

"Um, what's your name?" Demyx asked.

"I'm reading," the boy said, annunciating his words, as though Demyx were slow.

"Haha, how do you spell that?" The boy slammed his book closed and glared at Demyx with the one eye showing through his slate hair.

"My name is Zexion. Now please ignore my book, I'm really interested in what you have to say," Zexion said sarcastically. Demyx, not understanding sarcasm, opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the sound of the bell signaling the end to passing period. In the front of the room, the teacher stood and walked to the door, locking it.

"Welcome to Chemistry," he said. "I am your teacher Vexen. First rule, if you are late to my class, you are not welcome in my class. I lock the door as soon as the bell rings, so if you're late you can either walk to the office or let hall security take you there." Demyx swallowed hard. This guy wasn't joking around.

"Second rule," Vexen said, making a beeline to the front of the room. "No hats!" With that he snatched the beanie off the head of a red-haired student. His hair flew in every which direction, (which is why Demyx assumed he was wearing the beanie,) and he proceeded to let loose a very loud, "Shit!"

"Axel," stated Vexen, "I see your language hasn't improved from last year."

"And your face hasn't improved either. Still not getting any?" came Axel's retort. The room erupted in giggles. Vexen sneered, but didn't respond. Instead he turned and addressed the class again.

"Rule three: the person sitting at your table is your partner for the year. There will be no changes. Rule four…" Vexen went through naming each of his rules, but Demyx had lost interest. He turned his attention back to Zexion, who had gone back to reading, his book on the table with his elbows resting next to it, his face in his hands. He moved his book into the table more, accidentally bumping a beaker, so that it rested precariously on the side, teetering slightly. Without thinking, Demyx rushed to catch it before it fell and-

CRASH!

It barely had touched the tips of his fingers before it fell. Every eye in the room turned to him.

"Young man!" exclaimed Vexen. "Did you just throw that beaker on the ground?" Demyx tried to stutter a response, but nothing came out right. The rest of the class, on the other hand, had a lot to say. They burst out into a series of praises. The loudest of them was Axel.

"Way to go, Mr. Mullet! Somebody needed to liven up the class!" he said, clapping his hands. Vexen was red with anger.

"Axel, why don't you accompany this delinquent to the office and have a talk with Principal Xemnas?" he said, venom dripping from his voice. With a short laugh, Axel rose from his chair and walked to the back of the room, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He motioned for Demyx to follow him as Vexen unlocked the door. Hesitantly, Demyx got up and went after the other man.

"Hey man, great idea to shake things up," Axel said as the door closed behind them.

"Uh, I di-" something inside Demyx told him to shut up. Someone was praising him. Was this…a possible friend?

"Y-yeah, I thought things were a little-" (dammit, what was a cool word to use?) "square."

Axel rose an eyebrow but smiled.

"Name's Axel," he said, pointing a thumb to his chest. "Got it memorized?"

"Yeah!" Demyx said enthusiastically, "I'm Demyx." They stopped in front of a double door, and Axel laughed.

"Well Demyx, welcome to the fray. You're about to meet the devil himself. Principal Xemnas."

Without another word, Axel swung the door open, and Demyx walked in to face his destiny.

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**Okay, that's it for me! Next chapter to be handed off to my dear friend, Burgh My Boy! Ta-ta for now!**

**-K.H. Wright**


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